Idiocy and Normality
by Poehlaris
Summary: There were times when his idiocy really got to me. Tomoyohara


There were times when his idiocy really got to me. I usually didn't mind it, but every once in awhile, the constant pestering and ridiculous assumptions were just annoying. He would come strutting up to me with that air of confidence that he always seemed to carry. Tomoya would always be right behind him, although he seemed to look more and more reluctant to go along with his blonde friends schemes. Then he would come waltzing up to me and say the most absurd things. Whenever I'd respond, he'd assume that I'd admitted to being the opposite sex that I am, and he'd start laughing in victory. I'd give him some sort of apathetic response and then when he'd charge at me, I'd kick him God knows how many times. He'd go flying and then I'd walk away.

And so it had been like that for several weeks now. Sometimes I could remain calm like I wanted to, but other times, I couldn't help but let him know how irritated I was. After awhile, not even Tomoya would show up to pick up his broken body when I was done with him. The first time he showed up alone, I felt sort for bad for him. But only a little bit.

But as of recently, he hasn't been bothering me at all. He hasn't shown up in our usual hallway to confront me. He hasn't made any outrageous accusations about me. He hasn't asked me any stupid questions. Hell, he hasn't said a word to me in two weeks. It was a pleasant surprise at first. It meant that rumors stopped flying about me and it didn't interfere with my chances to be elected as student council president. The first week was really nice, I was much more focused, I was less annoyed and more normal, and I felt like I was getting a lot more done. But this second week has really taken a toll on me. Now it's like I'm feeling the opposite effect.

I did my best to go home every day and work hard. After finishing up all my homework, I would immediately start doing more work for the election. I made more flyers to hang, I worked on my speeches, I made sure to keep going over all of the student council rules and regulations, and I did research on all of my opponents. Not to dig up dirt on them, mind you, just to know what I'm up against. That was getting increasingly harder and harder, though. I suddenly became so easily distracted and it was really ticking me off. At first, I didn't think it had anything to do with Sunohara, but I eventually ruled that he could be the only thing bothering me this much without being anywhere near me. Not only was he the only thing that changed in my life as of recently, but he's the only one with the power to drive me up a wall without having to do anything.

So despite how unorthodox it was, I decided to stop into his and Tomoya's classroom and pay them a visit. Of course, I wouldn't let them know about my feelings, but maybe just seeing them for awhile will calm me down. I can't let that moronic blonde ruin my chances of being elected by pestering me, but I also can't let him ruin them by not. Honestly, I don't know how it came to this, or why his absence has been bothering me so much, but because it was affecting my concentration, I had to do whatever I could to get back to normal.

On my way there, though, I heard a bunch of students whispering about some fight that's happening outside on the soccer field. They passed me by soon enough, but I heard all I needed to. Sunohara and Tomoya will have to wait - breaking up a fight is more important. I'm not allowed to get into fights while I'm at school because it will disqualify me from the elections, but I'm very confident that my ability to persuade and my infamous past will scare off any troublemakers.

So I went out to where I heard the fight was going to be held and of course it had already started. I walked up and made my announcement. I told everyone that it was against school rules to fight and that they should settle their problems elsewhere. They recognized me in no time and soon scattered. All but one, anyway. There was one man who stayed behind and stared me down. I didn't feel threatened or intimidated, so I just stared blankly right back at him. He was tall and a bit on the skinny side, but you could tell he had muscle. He had shaggy brown hair and a green cap on his head. His eyes appeared to be hazel from this distance, but it was hard to tell. After about two minutes of nothing, I started walking towards him. He backed down and ran off, finally, but not before pulling one more tough-guy act.

"Don't think this is over, Sakagami! This won't be the last time you see us!"

His words didn't scare me at all, but it did worry me a little that they would all show up at school again. I'm prohibited from fighting, so if they show up and don't back down like they did today, I'll have to find another way to solve this problem. But for now, I let it go, and started back on my way to Sunohara's class. Unfortunately, the bell rang, and I missed my opportunity to talk with them. I would have to try and catch up to them after school.

So I went through the rest of my day as best I could. I got all my notes and homework copied down and I paid attention as best I could. I kept finding myself staring out the window. Probably because after I got back from dealing with those troublemakers, I saw Tomoya and Sunohara skipping class. I saw them coming back when class was over, but it didn't stop me from looking out the window for the rest of the day.

Even though the day dragged on so slowly, I was glad that it was finally over. I gathered up my things and tried to make my way out to where I thought those two goofs might be waiting. Tomoya would most likely be waiting for Furukawa, so I hoped that Sunohara would wait with him. I looked around the school and didn't see them, but when I walked outside, I saw the three of them walking away. I tried to catch up to them without running, but it turned out to be more of a combination between fast-walking and trotting. Once I got close enough, I said hello and they stopped.

"Oh, hey Tomoyo. What's up?"

"I've just been doing more work to prepare for the elections, that's all."

"Man, if that's _all_ you've been doing, then you must have a really boring life."

"Sunohara, that's not very nice. Tomoyo has been working hard for a long time now!"

"Furukawa is right, Sunohara. Besides, we're off school property now, so Tomoyo can beat you up all she wants if you insult her."

"That didn't stop her from kicking and hitting me in the school hallway!"

I giggled slightly to see the three of them being so casual and... normal. It made me feel like nothing was wrong, but it didn't explain why I never saw them anymore. Either they've gotten extremely busy or I really have done something too shy them away.

"Hey, by the way, how is everything going with the drama club?"

We made some small talk and it sounded like everything was still underway for them. I told them I'd do my best to help them, but my top priority was still the elections. They understood and thanked me anyway. Everything seemed normal until the end. It was time to go and everyone said goodbye except... him. He just walked away with them. It was strange to say, but it stung a little.

* * *

><p>The next day at school, I went to their classroom at lunchtime and went to eat with them. Both Tomoya and Sunohara found it strange that I showed up all of a sudden, but they let me join them anyway. We ate and had casual conversation just like yesterday. We joked around and Kyou took Sunohara's lunch from him and made him jump to get it back. He tried to put up a fight, but she beat him down before he could do anything. Furukawa was worried about him, but the rest of us laughed. It was strange to have us all together, especially since I knew I still wasn't Kyou's favorite person.<p>

But once again, when lunch was over, everyone said goodbye... except for him.

No matter how many times I stopped by and talked with them, it was always the same. It was driving me more and more insane to not know what was going on. I thought about being straightforward, but how awkward would it be to ask him why he never says goodbye to me? It would sound childish for one, but he would probably give me some silly answer like he forgot or it didn't cross his mind. Something so simple that it would probably agitate me more. So then I thought about asking Tomoya when he wasn't around, but then...

"This is stupid. Why does it matter so much? I've been acting like some silly high school girl with a desperate crush. I don't have a crush on him. This whole endeavor has been pointless. I need to focus more on the elections and less on that idiot. I'm done now."

And that was the end of my pursuit.

The next few weeks went by pretty quickly after that. I unknowingly buried myself in my work in an attempt to force myself to concentrate and it worked perfectly. I had taken a nice lead because of it. Every once in awhile, I'd see Tomoya and Furukawa and they would say hello. We made our small talk and that was it. Sunohara was never mentioned and he was never with them, and it really didn't bother me anymore. At least... not until Furukawa said something.

"You know, Tomoyo, Sunohara's been acting strange lately. It feels like he's putting on an act rather than being himself. Okazaki keeps catching him looking down and depressed, but he always puts on this really forced smile when he sees him and he just seems to be trying way too hard to act like himself. I don't know if that anything to do with you, but it happened not long after you stopped hanging out with us. When we stopped seeing you around and when you didn't east with us anymore, I mean."

"Oh, well I'm sorry to hear that. Maybe he's having some trouble at home."

"Well, we thought about that, but Okazaki would have known. Sunohara and him have been best friends for a long time now and it's something he thinks he would know about."

"Well I'm truly sorry to hear that, but I don't know what you expect me to do."

"I don't know, maybe you could eat lunch with us tomorrow. That might cheer him up!"

I really didn't want to; I knew it would just get me off task. The last thing I needed was to make another mistake and start wondering about that moron again. I didn't like to see Furukawa so worried, but I couldn't really help her right now.

"I'm sorry, but I've got a lot of work I still have to do. My lunchtime has been spent alone so I can concentrate. Maybe some other time."

I tried to walk away. I could feel her sad eyes on my back as I left. I knew she wasn't depressed, she just wanted to help her friend. It made me wonder what would have happened if I had a friend like her to worry about me when I was going crazy over that blonde kid. Would she have confronted him? Probably, and she would have embarrassed me, and she would have given him the wrong idea. I did not need him thinking I had a crush on him. Of all the ridiculous possibilities he could come up with, he would be set on that one.

As I was walking outside to head home, I saw a few boys peeking around the front entrance. As I got closer and there were fewer and fewer students around, a whole bunch of them sprung out and surrounded my exit. I was a little confused at first, but then I saw that boy from before and I knew I messed up. I completely forgot about the whole incident because I was so focused on Sunohara. Damn him to Hell.

"I told you we'd be back! We did some diggin' on you. You can't fight on school grounds because you're running for student council president. Not so tough now, are you?"

I give them credit for doing their homework; I just wish they weren't so good at it. Not only can I not fight on school grounds, but I can't fight anywhere near the school. My only option now is to run far enough away that I'd be out of sight and could actually fight back. I don't want them to get the wrong idea and think I'm a coward, but I'd rather have that happen than lose the election. However, my escape routes were pretty well blocked, so unless I tried to run through the back of the school... no, then I'd could be risking other students safety. I'm kind of trapped here.

They all started snickering and moving in on me. I wasn't really scared, more like I really didn't want to dodge all their attacks for the next few hours. I couldn't hit them, but that didn't mean I had to let them hit me.

They all came running at me fast, so I quickly began dodging hits and kicks from every directions. I backed off to tie my hair back so they couldn't tug on it and then kept on moving. They started calling me names and they tried to pressure me into fighting, but I refused them. I wasn't going to let them get the best of me. However, I was tiring out and they had so many numbers that if one of them needed time out recuperate, the other could go on fighting and they could switch out. They were trying to drain me of all my energy so they could easily win this fight. It was low, but not unheard of.

I didn't really notice it until I heard this obnoxious scream, but apparently there were still a few students in the building. They opened the doors to go home for the day, when they saw our massive "fight." I faintly heard someone call my name and then there was a girl frantically panicking. Their voices sounded familiar, but I instantly recognized them when I heard...

"Hey, you punks! Leave her alone!"

It was high pitched, obnoxious, and very serious. I briefly turned around and saw a little blonde figure running towards me. He started throwing wild punches and kicks in an attempt to help me out. It was impossible to mistake, my little helper was none other than Sunohara. It wasn't long before Tomoya joined in the fight and Furukawa waited inside the school for it to be over. After about twenty more minutes, everything was finally over. All of the men were either lying unconscious on the ground or crippled and trying to escape. I looked back and saw Tomoya and Sunohara lying beaten and bruised on the ground. Furukawa came running out to their aid and so did I.

I didn't even realize my body was moving until I was hovered over Sunohara and checking for his pulse. Furukawa was helping Tomoya sit up and he was gripping his side and head in pain. They really did a number on both of them. She asked him half a dozen times if he was O.K. and he kept insisting that he would be fine. He coughed up some blood, and he appeared to have some broken bones, but he still managed to stand. Of course, he was using Furukawa for support. She insisted that they both go to the hospital, but he told her no. She wanted to get him back to her house and have her mother look after him immediately, but he refused to leave Sunohara behind.

Furukawa turned to me with those same pleading, sad eyes as before and said...

"Tomoyo, will you please look after Sunohara? He lives in the boy's dormitory not far from here. You could take him to the hospital, too, just please take care of him. I really need to get Tomoya home."

I nodded to her without realizing it and then they walked away. Tomoya said something to me, but I didn't hear him. Soon after, I looked back down at Sunohara and realized just how badly he was injured. I didn't really know what to do, so I awkwardly picked him up on my back. My gut told me to take him to the hospital, but my feet were leading me towards his dorm.

We got there before I knew it and Misae shrieked in horror. She opened the doors for me and rushed me inside and into his room. It was a filthy pigsty, of course, so she cleared away some room on the floor and had me set him down. She grabbed the first aid kit and immediately started patching him up. I was still kind of dazed from the whole thing, so I just did whatever she told me. What had taken several hours seemed to only be a few minutes, because Sunohara was now all cleaned up and out of his school uniform and tucked into bed. It was getting really late by now, but I still couldn't bring myself to leave, even after Misae told me it was alright.

"You shouldn't worry so much about him. I've never met a more resilient boy than him. He'll be back on his feet and in school in no time. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to make a phone call to his parents to let them know what happened. Although, well... you never did tell me anything, Tomoyo."

I muttered out the events that took place outside the school and she nodded. She got a small smile on her face before she walked away. I didn't know what that was about, but it didn't really matter. I went back to his room and found him just like I left him. He looked peaceful sleeping like he was. He did something so kind for me and rushed into a fight without any hesitation. I felt like I owed him the world for keeping me out of trouble. So I instinctively started to tidy up his room. It was about ten o'clock when I was done. It was hard to really clean without making a lot of noise. Misae let me use the washing machine, even though she told me a thousand times that I didn't have to do anything. I just kept moving anyway.

As I was finishing up and preparing to leave, I saw him stirring around in his bed. I don't know why, but I reached out my hand and put it on his forehead. It seemed to calm him down and I was glad. I whispered a thank you and gave him a light kiss on his forehead before I left. I guess that was the least I could do for him.

* * *

><p>The next day at school, I saw a very tired and beaten up Tomoya with a very perky and lively, yet still beaten up Sunohara. They walked down the hallway towards me and Sunohara had a big grin on his face. Tomoya looked bored as usual, but he did have a slight smile on his face. I knew then that something was up.<p>

"So Tomoyo, Misae told me what you did at my dorm last night. I think it's very sweet that you cleaned my room and took care of me."

He had a cocky tone in his voice, but I restrained myself from giving him attitude and then smacking him.

"Yes, that was me. I figured it was the least I could do for you, since you jumped into the fight to help me out. Don't worry, Tomoya, I know I still have to pay you back, too."

"Uh... oh, no, don't worry about it. I only jumped in to make sure this idiot didn't die."

"Hey, I could have held my own! Anyway, that's not all that you did for me."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, you didn't know it, but I was awake when you were leaving. I felt your hand on me. I heard what you said and I felt your li-!"

I immediately started kicking him until my legs felt tired and he went flying down the hallway. Tomoya looked confused, but started laughing hysterically. I was blushing slightly at the fact that he was awake the whole time, but it felt really good to have things back to normal. I heard him yell down the hall how that wasn't very nice and that I should treat him better because he helped me out. I started laughing, too, as I turned to walk back to class. Maybe his idiocy didn't get to me as much as I thought it did.

* * *

><p>"AN: Oh, my God! I love this pairing with a passion and I'm sad there aren't more fic's for them. I just finished watching Clannad and I fell in love with Sunohara because of his dorky personality. I know Tomoyo was in love with Tomoya, but I saw a mini bit of attraction (at least on Sunohara's end) to each other. I hope I didn't get too OOC with Tomoyo, I know she's got a very neutral personality. This idea just came to me on a whim, so I hope it wasn't bad. I know there was a scene where Tomoya had to fight for her because of a thing like this, but I thought I'd twist it. I don't remember if Sunohara was there or not, but I thought this would fit. This was obviously set early on in the anime because Tomoya and Nagisa aren't going out and they're still on a last name basis. I need to stop rambling now, though, so I hope you enjoyed this and I look forward to improving and writing more future Clannad fic's."


End file.
